Leapin' Lizard!

Yesterday afternoon I went with Jason to dump a diaper, and when we were just about to step on it, a lizard leaped to the garbage can wheel. It was quite a surprise, and Jason didn't know whether to s&!# or go blind! I don't think it is native to Utah. I have only seen the tiny ones that our dog Teela chased around when she was alive. This looks like it might have been someones pet that escaped or was released. It looks pretty cool, and the kids wanted me to catch it, but it started to come at me, and I jumped back a foot and it took off across the road! What a chicken I am!
Take a look at the pics I got of it!

This is where it started to come at me!

I just found out that this lizard is native to Utah! That is so cool!!! This is where I found the info http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/search/Display.asp?FlNm=crotbici

It's called Great Basin Collared Lizard or CROTAPHYTUS BICINCTORES if you want the scientific name.

So, look out for lizards this summer!

Summer Fun!!

So far, every single person I have talked about summer with, asks, "So, are you having a good summer? Are the kids driving you crazy yet?...Oh wait, you have your kids all the time!"

Yes it's true, I have my kids all the time. And, yes, they do drive me crazy at times. But, mostly we have a lot of fun all year 'round. While other kids are in school, we do things like have lunch at Chuck E. Cheese on a Wednesday, when the kids have to share the games and such with themselves! Ha Ha!! But I'm not posting this to be mean, but to share some of our summer fun pics.


There is a neighborhood park about three blocks away that we love to go play and have lunch at.

Here is the little playground.

The older kids' favorite part of the park is there are three huge "climbing trees". They are part monkey or something.

Hang on girls!

"Scary me!"

The swing is more like it!

What a handsome guy!

...And a beautiful girl!

Doesn't this look like fun?

So that's the little park. Something else we (or I should say Andres) has been doing is buliding stuff. He has a little welder and cut up and welded this little scooter for Jason. Here is Jason showing it off for everyone.

Here are Daniel, Jason, and Rocky. We have a bubble blowing gun, and I just happened to get this picture that looks like Jason and Rocky are racing to get the bubbles.

Anyway, just because I homeschool my kids, and get to enjoy them year 'round, doesn't mean we don't have a great summer! Have fun!

The Tramp

The trampoline has got to be the best purchase we have ever made. The kids have been out on it nearly every day since we got it in March. I even had to yell at them to get their buts inside when it was raining torentiually in late April! Andres and I even get out there like a couple of hippos. We have to walrus our way onto the thing and after just a few minutes we are all out of breath, and our legs are rubbery. But, it's a great workout and we have a blast with the kids. They love to see us being such goof-balls!

Here are four of the five kids jumping with the sprinkler underneath. Jason could only take a few minutes of it. He was pretty scared of the water coming up through!

The ever popular "bum war".

Each of them get a chance to be double bounced during the war...this was Daniel's turn.

Here is Erica's turn to go flying!

And here is Natalie. She flies the highest, being the lightest.

Flips and tricks.

Here's Nattie doing a flip. She has been pretty proud of herself because she was the first of the three to actually get it down!

Erica flippin' out!

Daniel prefers to do the "back".

And here is Jason, keeping up with his older siblings. We can't believe the air he gets. Most kids his age will just stomp around the tramp and freak if anyone actually bounces at all!

We have had so much fun watching the kids do their thing on the trampoline, and have had a lot of fun doing it ourselves. Andres actually does flips! Sorry I don't have any pictures of that yet!

Happy Belated Father's Day!

I want to take time to say a few things about the dads in my life.

Andres, you are my hero, and especially a hero to the kids. We have all been proud of you and the hard work that it took to go through police academy and get your job. I love that the kids know that they can count on you to give them a priesthood blessing at any time. There is no doubt that you love us or the Lord. Thank you for being you!

Dad, you are a great example to our kids. They love to be with Grandpa Johnny. You have a great big heart, and know how to talk to people without hurting feelings. You have taught me to not be afraid of talking to myself. You can carry on a conversation with a rock and get the rock to talk back! I am happy that you uphold the priesthood and that Natty trusted that you would give her a blessing when she wasn't feeling too good. Thank you for being a great dad and grandpa!

Carlos, you have been a great example to us as well. I am proud of the hard work you have done in learning a new language and having your own business in a new country! You have been there for us more than once to help us when we needed it. Andres has learned a lot from you, and honors you! Thank you for being a good dad, and grandpa!

Springtime Fun

As the weather starts to warm up every year, we start to explore more than our backyard. We are fortunate enough to live only a half mile from the Provo River Parkway, and from there we can go West a mile and a half to Utah Lake, or East one mile to a giant swing that is along the trail. Andres and Daniel have taken the trail all the way up Provo Canyon to Vivian Park. (15 miles!) This picture shows Daniel on the swing and just how high up the branch is.

The river is just a few yards away from the swing, and it is a little calmer there. So, I go down with the kids and let them throw rocks into the river as long as there are no fishermen about. They get pretty ornery about stuff like that.

Here is little Kinsey. She is so fun! She has started to laugh, but only at Erica. In this photo you can tell that her right eye is alittle droopy. I had her into the Dr. yesterday, and he suggested that I take her to the eye doctor. He says that it is probably nothing serious, but sometimes kids need surgery for it. He reffered me to Dr. Abrams and said that he is the best for babies and little kids, but that his bedside manner is not. My sister-in-law, Aprel knows that!

This picture was taken near the swing. There are many photo opportunities, if you're willing to work for it! Jason wasn't happy about sitting still, and Natty doesn't look too happy, but she was!

We love living so close to the river and lake, and take advantage of them every chance we get! We're able to walk along the trail from early spring until there is too much snow to ride a bike in the winter.

Gone Fishin'

Daniel's 12 pounder--He caught this one while I was at Alberson's getting "phosphorus" chicken as Tyler calls it.


Daniel's 13 pounder-The picture is hazy because I took the picture (all the pictures) with my cell phone and was facing the sun. When he caught this fish, Andres had gone to the bathroom, I was feeding KH, and the older kids were looking out for JT. Daniel picked up the rod because the line went slack, and soon he saw that he had a big one. He looked over to me for help, and I was a bit unable to help. I stood up with KH still latched on and turned around to see Andres coming back. So, I yelled that Daniel had another one, and he started to trot over. He wasn't running fast enough for Daniel, and he yelled, "run like your chasing someone!"


Daniel's 10 pounder


We have been pretty successful fishermen this year. Well, I should say that DS has been the successful one! About a month ago we went to Utah lake to try our luck at catfishing, and Daniel is the one that came through. He caught two; one 12 pounds and the other was 13 pounds! He and Andres went yesterday and Andres caught a teensy weency one that he threw back and Daniel caught a 10 pounder!!


We have been having fun trying different catfish recipes. The first time while Andres was cleaning the fish, a black guy was there cleaning his too and told him to first soak the fillets in water with a couple teaspoons of baking soda for 30 minutes to an hour to get rid of the mud taste. (yuck) Then just cut it up into bite-size pieces and coat it with cornmeal and fry it up. We added salt and it was delicious! Then I found a Chinese recipe and that was excellent, but the after-smell was not good at all. The recipe calls for five-spice powder, which is great tasting, but the smell of it lingered for another day! (yuck) Yesterday I found another recipe for frying and it also had cornmeal in it, but added flour, cayenne pepper, salt, and garlic powder. This was so good that even the girls ate it up! I'm excited for our next fishing outing and trying new fish recipes!


I don't know what it is, but fish has some kind of chemical in it that helps to make you happy! Last night after dinner, we were all singing and dancing and being goofy. The kids had never seen us act like that and thought we were nuts! DS and ER are getting to the age where they think that we are pretty dumb anyway.


So, if you don't know what to do this summer...GO FISHING!!!

This is the "DREAM"?!

Well, while I AM living my dream, dreams sometimes do turn into nightmares! I have been cleaning up barf and poop for a week! Little JT got an ear infection AND the flu at once. I took him in to the doctor on Wednesday last week for the ear infection and was back in on Friday because he couldn't keep the antibiotic down. So, they gave him two shots; one an antibiotic for his ear, and another for the nausea caused by the flu. He is just now pulling around so that is GREAT, but my house reeks of barf! I'm going to have to get the carpets cleaned I guess.

But that is only part one of the nightmare. ER now has the flu, but is only suffering from diarrhea. She came into my room early yesterday morning to say that she diarrheaed (I know that's not a real word) the bed! Which is worse; cleaning up barf or diarrhea? I haven't had a decent nights sleep for a week and don't feel too hot myself, so I hope I'm not coming down with it now.

So like every dream, we wake up drenched in sweat from the awful nightmare we were having. On with life!